1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to initializing a cable card and a channel list, and more particularly, to initializing a cable card and a channel list using a reset menu on an OSD (On-Screen Display) screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ever since TV waves were officially emitted, TVs for receiving those TV waves have prevailed more than any kind of media device and a great number of TV broadcast contents have been produced.
The important role of the TV associated with delivering knowledge and sharing information should not ever be overlooked. However, producing and sending broadcasting programs requires building a lot of facilities and financing capital investment. These requirements were often major obstacles to meet consumers' diverse and ever-increasing demands.
As an attempt to solve the above problem, some cable TV stations produced specialized programs with lower budgets than what the existing sky wave TV stations usually spent. To watch those cable TV broadcasting programs, customers needed a separate device called a STB (Set-Top Box), in addition to an antenna.
The first-generation set-top boxes helped the customers watch a variety of cable TV channels although they were televised in one-direction only. In contrast, digital set-top boxes, known as second-generation set-top boxes, found their own territory, independent from other home appliances, escaping the traditional role as an object to be placed on a TV set. Diverse functions and additional services were provided through the digital set-top boxes, which are specialized computers for enabling the viewers to transmit and receive data over the Internet, and having a web browser and a protocol like TCP/IP.
A cable card is a key element of an open cable that cable TVs adopted as a technical standard. More specifically, the cable card, which is inserted into the digital TV set-top box, is a chip containing a subscriber's information. Unlike the traditional set-top box, the cable card is not actually incorporated into the set-top box but is a separate device.
According to the recently released Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, every cable company in the United States has to provide a cable card to every digital cable subscriber. By installing the cable card, a subscriber does not need purchase or rent a digital set-top box, but is capable of connecting digital products such as digital TVs, recorders and computers directly to the cable.
When the cable card is inserted into a digital TV, provided that the cable card can be detached from the digital TV, a designated internal module of the TV initializes bidirectional communication with the cable card and determines whether the cable card and the digital TV are compatible with each other.
If it turns out that the cable card and the digital TV are compatible, the device performs normal operations, but if not, a malfunction occurs in the device.
In most cases when the cable card and the digital TV are not compatible with each other, and the device malfunctions, it is because the cable card has a certain problem. If this happens, it is better to initialize the cable card by taking out the cable card rather than initializing the device by turning off and on the TV itself. However, since the cable card is installed at the rear side of the device it is not easy for an ordinary user to find and take out the cable card. As such, the initialization of the cable card becomes a difficult task for the users.
The device may also malfunction because a broadcast station sends an incorrect channel list, even temporarily. For instance, if the channel list ‘100’ is not transmitted properly, the user cannot watch the channel 100. When there is an error in the transmission of the channel list, the user cannot erase the incorrect channel list simply by initializing the cable card because this type of error can be corrected only when the station sends a correct channel list. Consequently, the user has no choice but to watch the wrong channel, instead of the original channel 100. Thus, a separate button needs to be provided to erase the incorrect channel list.